Cambodia Plans the First Wrestling Competition

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA

Cambodia plans to organize the first Wrestling competition (Kila Kas) for the end of this year to promote the development of sports as well as to attract the tourists in Cambodia, according to high-ranking officials of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).

Vath Chamroeun, Secretary General of NOCC, made the statement.

“Wrestling is one of the most interested sports in Cambodia as well as in the world. The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia is going to organize its first competition for the end of this year to promote the wrestling sport,” he told The Southeast Asia Weekly during a telephone interview.

Secretary General Vath Chamroeun continued to say that the purpose of the competition is to promote the sport and attract the tourists in order to generate jobs for the people in Cambodia. He pointed out that Kila Kas club was established in Cambodia in 2009 and so far there are 10 players training at the National Sports Complex in Phnom Penh.

He stated that since the establishment of the Kila Kas Club in Cambodia, the team has already displayed fighting many times in Phnom Penh and in Sihanouk province. It has also become of interest for people in Cambodia.

To prepare for the future Kila Kas competition, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia will organize a “Kila Kas Show” for Cambodian people in Vihear Sour district of Kandal province during the up coming Khmer New Year and Phchum Ben Festival in this year, he said.

“I hope that through our Kila Kas show activities, we will then be able to organize future wrestling competitions and at the same time, we can attract both national and international tourists to visit our country to generate jobs for people in Cambodia in the future,” he said.

Hok Chheang Kim, Technical Director of the Cambodian Wrestling Federation and also Secretary General of the Khmer Boxkator Federation, said that Kila Kas or Wrestling originated from Japanese martial arts. The sport now is very popular and is played in Japan and the United States of America.

Chheang Kim said that in Cambodia, the sport originated from Khmer traditional boxing or Khmer Boxkator, which was sculptured in Banyon Temple’s walls in Siem Reap province.
He added that to play the sport, it requires the strong bodies, hard training and patience.

According to the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, there are 33 types of sports subjects with 33 sport federations in Cambodia. ////



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